


After all these years

by gamzeeroxy



Series: Mystic Messenger Breakfast Club/Highschool AU [4]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Jaehee/MC only appear in one scene pls dont get ur hopes up, M/M, main pairing: Jumin/Zen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-13 03:05:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15354837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gamzeeroxy/pseuds/gamzeeroxy
Summary: Zen's and Jumin's paths cross again, years after they have graduated highschool and went their separate ways.





	After all these years

It is amazing what hearts can take. They can survive a blood clot, or years of abuse by drugs or smoking.

But sometimes the most damaging thing isn’t physical.

Zen and Jumin both knew they would eventually break up. They wanted different things, wanted to go to different colleges at different ends of the country, already had their full rides by the time they were seniors. And since their life was in fact not High School Musical, they couldn’t compromise. Or maybe they could have, if they had gotten over their pride for once.

You can pass an exam if you study hard enough and don’t get too nervous when the time comes, you can get the boy, girl, nonbinary pal or all three if you are lucky and they love you back - in short, a lot can be achieved by believing in yourself.

Zen didn’t expect to see Jumin ever again, but he did. All he knew about the man now was that he aced all his college courses, graduated early and now led the empire his father created. No, he never googled him. Okay, maybe he did, but not _that_ often. And he kept appearing all over newspapers with various rumors that probably weren’t true. At least Zen thought this until now.

Jumin was laughing. Actually, genuinely laughing. Back in high school, Zen had seen that smile just a couple of times, most of them in the beginning of their official relationship. The messier their relationship became, the less he saw him smile or heard him laugh. He knew they hadn’t been good for each other, but that definitely didn’t mean that he didn’t miss him when they broke up after their graduation ceremony.

The laughing wasn’t the problem, however. It was the person he was laughing _at_. Zen knew her from magazines, she was the heir of a massive fortune and her mother was the CEO of a company that was big in business with Jumin’s. Of course rumors started about the two dating, but Zen never believed them, always thought they were a scheme and Jumin was just playing his part.

But the smile changed everything.

Zen felt everything in him ache. A familiar ache for Jumin, left over from high school days, an ache for love he hadn’t felt in forever, casual affection and a genuine smile that was displayed right in front of him.

He left the restaurant without a word, and Jumin never noticed him.

Or so he thought.

* * *

Zen spent the next few days busying himself even more than usual. In his sparse free time he immersed himself in practicing his routines, working closely with his dancers until they said they couldn't practice anymore. Zen respected this, but deep inside he wished they could stay forever to distract him from the deep emptiness he felt ever since he had encountered Jumin again.

When he eventually went home, his loft felt empty, although it was almost cluttered with all the fanmail he received. He thought it important to answer his fanmail personally, and he didn't receive as much as some stars in previous decades probably had anyway, since a lot of it was substituted with online messages. He posted a selfie on his Instagram (#PostWorkout) and a picture of the mountain of fanmail on his Twitter, then busied himself with reading and answering letters late into the night.

When he next looked up it was 3am and his wrist hurt from all the writing he'd done. But he couldn't sleep just yet, the level of exhaustion at which he would sink into bed and sleep immediately not yet reached. Instead, he sighed and went to his piano. Living in a higher price apartment had its advantages, including almost complete soundproofness.

Preemptively, he put his phone on record. He had had some great improvisation sessions, so he had grown accustomed to recording whatever he played, in case he had a new song idea. He played a couple tunes, but couldn't quite find something worth playing. He grew frustrated and forced himself to stop, taking a deep breath and finally settling his hands down to play an old, familiar tune.

It was a soft, melancholic, almost sad melody. He had learned it by heart by listening to Jumin play it on a warm spring night, and he let the lingering love for him guide his fingers over the keys. His sadness and longing filling him to the brim, he transformed the song into something different. Soon he began singing along, and his voice was infused with love, longing and sadness. When he went on however, the song turned into a rendition of past happiness.

He stopped when he felt that the piano keys were wet. He had started crying almost soundlessly, the tears dropping on the keys like salty rain. He didn't know when he started, although he could surely find out by replaying his recording, for it must have shown in his voice.

He went to bed.

* * *

At first he didn't know if he really wanted to turn something so personal into a song for the world to hear. So naturally, he played it to someone he trusted. MC had remained a distant friend since highschool, and he had always held her up in high regards when it came to new song ideas. They had made a habit of skyping semi-regularly, and she was always happy to listen to his songs - even when he himself still thought them raw and unfinished. Skyping with MC also came with the rare benefit of getting to see Jaehee, which he really enjoyed. The women had both grown out of their Zen-idolization stage in their senior year - to the delight of all people involved - and he had enjoyed chatting with them even more ever since.

The night they skyped, Jaehee and MC were side by side on the sofa in their living room, the rest of the big couch occupied by two dogs. The sight made Zen feel even more alone in his big apartment. He was already sat at his piano, but they talked a while about what was going on in their lives.

"I can see that you got another dog. What's its name?" MC pet the dog to her left softly, as it was sleeping soundly. "Her name is Sadie. We got her a couple weeks ago from the shelter, she's a really sweet girl. She was in there for so long because well, she's not a puppy anymore... But she gets along with Steven perfectly and she's such a sweetheart."

When they finally got to the topic of new songs, Zen was in the right mood for his newest piece.

"Okay, here goes."

Zen took a deep breath to steady his nerves and started playing.

By the time he finished his song and looked back up at the screen connecting him to Jaehee and MC, he saw that the two had moved closer together, Jaehee having put her arm around the brown-haired woman and her head resting gently on top of MC's. Her nose was close to her hair, as if this was the last moment they could spend together, and she was trying to memorize every detail, including the smell of her hair. MC looked close to tears and she was holding Jaehee's hand tightly.

"That was beautiful, Zen. A totally different direction from your usual songs... But I think we all know who you should actually play this song to."

Zen blushed deeply, feeling called out, but feigned to be oblivious to the meaning of MC's words. Jaehee let it go quickly and went on to tell him that he should definitely implement the song in a new album if he was ready, and Zen went on telling them that it still had lots of areas he had to work on.

* * *

Soon the work on his newest album was finished, and he was set to go on a promotional tour starting today. The first concert promoting his new album with a completely new sound was to take place in the very same city he lived in, and then he would move around the country for 2 months, playing a concert in every semi-big city he encountered. Tonight, he would only be playing for the richest of the rich. Normally he was opposed to high ticket prices, but this was an exception.

When he renewed his contract after he had his breakthrough, he struck a deal with his label. They promised to keep the ticket prices for all his concerts low, but in return he had to perform two to three shows for VIPs only in small venues that would finance the discrepancy in the rest of the cheaper tickets. In addition, the VIPs could pay to spend some alone time with him. Of course there was always a bodyguard present, unless Zen said otherwise, to prevent VIPs from getting the wrong idea. He wasn't an escort, and although he was certainly not opposed to using his body to get what he wanted he drew the line at sleeping with someone for money. Not that he had to anyway, with all the money he made nowadays.

He wasn't nervous when he came on stage. He had played in far bigger venues in front of people that were far more important to him or his success than these people. He performed his set calmly, letting the familiar sounds and movements envelop him into an almost mindless rhythm. The dance routine had been toned down for the small venue, and it was relaxing to have only his closest dancers on stage with him.

After the concert was officially over Zen's manager announced that private time now began, and that he would soon take the highest bidder to Zen for a private meet up.

As much as Zen hated people bidding for time with him like he was an object to be possessed, he told himself repeatedly that it was for the sake of his fans.

After Zen freshened up a little, his manager approached him. "Look, this one guy seriously bid a million Dollars for spending the whole night with you. Don't look at me like that, I told him that you ultimately had the right to refuse anything, that he wasn't to try anything with you and that a bodyguard would be present, but he said that he knew about all this. He said he just wanted to talk. The next biddings are all around ten thousand, nothing higher. Do you want to do this? Or do you want me to tell him no?"

Zen was shocked. A million dollars... He could give away free merchandise at this rate, his fans would love it...

"Tell him I'll meet with him. Payment upfront as usual, and if he tries anything shady I'm out. God, a million dollars..."

His manager nodded and returned to the client, muttering to himself about the amount of money this guy had to have to just throw a million dollars away for a celebrity like its nothing.

Zen went to  his cabin, where he waited for the client. He didn't flinch when there was a knock on the door, and opened the door quickly to let his bodyguard in. He had become accustomed to this procedure.

"Hank, you know the drill. Safeword is Heathers, as usual. And if I tell you to leave, please remain stationed outside the door."

Hank, not a man of many words as Zen knew, just nodded.

Zen smiled to himself. Hank was very dependable and also very discreet, he had always liked him and hoped to keep him as his bodyguard for a long time to come. He had saved him from more than one crazed fan and some not so well behaved VIPs, too. Who knows where he'd be without him...

There was another knock on the door. Zen nodded to Hank before answering it with a bright smile on his face. "Well hello there, so you're the handsome person who paid a million doll- Jumin?"

The smile had faded from his face as quickly as he had faked it.

"Can I come in, Zen?" asked Jumin calmly.

Still shell-shocked, Zen nodded. Jumin strode into the room, nodded to Hank and sat down on a couch that was sat at the back of the room and normally hosted Zen's stage costumes, which had already been whisked away for cleaning before his next show.

"Hank, you can go. Jumin and I are... old friends. Thank you."

Hank threw him a sceptical glance but nodded and left the room, stationing himself outside it as Zen had instructed him to.

As soon as the door fell shut behind Hank, Jumin began to speak.

"Interesting concept you have here. Scamming the rich so that your average fan doesn't have to pay a hundred dollars for a ticket. Noble, really."

"What are you doing here, Jumin?" Zen replied. He knew he shouldn't feel angry at Jumin, he had all the right in the world to date other people, but yet he felt anger bubbling up. Or was it jealousy? Zen didn't know the difference anymore.

"I wanted to talk to you for months, and I was thinking the best opportunity would be tonight. Also, I can easily mark the 'fee' for tonight as a donation in my tax return, so that's a bonus too."

Zen felt anxiety creeping up on him, so much that he didn't even hear the second part of what Jumin said. He had wanted to talk to him for months... Could it be that Jumin actually saw  him , that day in the restaurant? It couldn't be. And god, he had heard the song he wrote about them... What if he recognized that it was about their relationshi p, that it was the song he used to play, transformed...

"Zen, are you listening?" Jumin said, a hint of impatience now creeping into his voice.

"I'm sorry, what?" Zen replied and wished that he hadn't been so lost in thought.

"I  asked you how you have been. I don't really follow the rumor mills that love to discuss your private life, so I'd love for you to tell me yourself."

Zen relaxed. So he just wanted to know what he'd been up to. Maybe he was still oblivious when it came to Zen's feelings. He really hoped that was the case, although something inside him shifted uncomfortably at the thought.

After discussing Zen's career for a bit, Zen turned the conversation to Jumin. He of course had followed the newspapers, but he acted as if he didn't and tried to get as much information out of him as possible, seeing as Jumin kept turning the questions around to get Zen to talk more about himself. Somewhere along the way one of Zen's assistants poked their head in to ask if they wanted something to drink, and a couple minutes later they were back with a Gin Tonic for Zen and a glass of white wine for Jumin.

Unthinkingly, Zen and Jumin sat ever closer on the couch, Zen talking animatedly and actually enjoying their time together like he never could in highschool.  It seemed like  Jumin had become more empathic  and was more attuned to  people's feelings and moods . He actually recognized when something made  Zen upset and backed off. It was quite a change . Of course Zen wasn't as easily riled up as he was back when he was 18, too.

Some time after midnight - Zen had long lost track of time - they had grown so close that Jumin could easily brush his hand over Zen's leg. It was such an intimate, familiar, yet strange gesture that Zen was overwhelmed by the desire to kiss Jumin. He wanted to know how his lips had changed in the years he had not spent kissing them, wanted to know if he was more experienced now - and then he remembered who Jumin had been with when he last saw him.

"So... Do you have a girlfriend now? Boyfriend?" Zen asked, somehow knowing that the direct approach was the best to take here.

"Zen, please. When would I ever have time for that? Sure, there were a couple of flings, but none that lasted more-"

Zen couldn't help himself anymore, he kissed Jumin. His jealousy was forgotten, he was filled with the desire to make Jumin his own, mark him for the world to see that the billionaire heir was involved with a famous popstar.

Jumin pushed his face away softly. "Zen... I'm not the same person I was in highschool. I can't do this if you aren't willing to make the effort. We're both grown men with stressful lives and this will be a lot of work."

"Shut up Jumin. Let's just make out for now and think about everything else tomorrow."

And make out they did. Where their highschool make out sessions had been laced with a rush to take each others clothes off and satisfy their teenage desires, this was filled with something else. It was as if their relationship had been made to be put on ice for some years, so their love for each other could grow stronger. As it was, their tongues met in a slow dance, getting to know each other again after being apart for so long. They savored every moment of it, the long years between them almost forgotten.

They shared an intimacy that none of them had ever experienced before, a slow build that ended with Zen in Jumin's lap, Zen's hands roaming over Jumin's upper body in an attempt to memorize it completely. He took his time unbuttoning his dress jacket, although there were just two buttons he could busy himself with. He took his time, feeling the smooth fabric under his fingers, the smooth skin of Jumin's lips on his own.

Jumin's hands had moved to Zen's waist, resting there and trying to pull him closer by the second, which was prevented by Zen fumbling with the buttons on Jumin's shirt.

However, they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Slightly panting, they separated from each other.

"Okay, maybe we should continue this some place more private. Your place or mine?" Zen said.

"Definitely yours. I want to know what your place looks like, and if it's as messy as your room was back in highschool," Jumin replied with a smug smile so unlike himself on his face.

Zen punched him lightly in the arm, but laughed when he replied. "Don't be mean! Let's get properly dressed again and get out of here."

The assistant was finally let into the room, told to get Zen's chauffeur and Hank was told to have an early night.

And while Hank may have had an early night, Jumin and Zen certainly didn't. And the next day, they both woke up happier than they had been in years.

**Author's Note:**

> It's incredible how creative I can be when exams are upon me once again... :'D  
> Had the beginning of this one in my drafts for quite some time, but only managed to continue it about a week ago, yall know how it is


End file.
